MLB Draft: It's all in the Cards for Bighames

Tyler Bighames concluded his three-year career on the Estero High baseball team in May. He batted over .400 each season.

FORT MYERS - After two stressful days waiting to hear his phone ring, Tyler Bighames finally received his wish.

And then some.

"It wouldn't stop ringing today. I've got about 20 calls," Bighames said Thursday after he was selected in the 31st round by the St. Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft.

Bighames became the second player in the past three years from coach Frank Turco's Estero High program to get drafted. John Tolisano was picked by Toronto in the second round of the 2007 draft.

Bighames and Tolisano were teammates on a powerful Estero club in 2007.

How powerful?

Other starters on that team included pitcher Zachary See, who is in the Minnesota Twins organization, and outfielder Alex Lozada, who is expected to join the FGCU Eagles after he posted two strong years at Polk Community College.

Five days before being selected, Bighames graduated from Estero.

Now he'll graduate to rookie ball. If Bighames plays for the Gulf Coast League Cardinals, he will be playing for another Turco. Steve Turco -- Frank's brother -- is manager of the GCL Cardinals.

Bighames will bypass a college career, which would have been with the University of Oregon. The 6-foot-2, 190 pound shortstop said he planned to sign with the Cardinals at his home on Tarpon Street in Fort Myers on Friday morning.

Then it will be off to Jupiter on Monday. Rookie league games start June 23.

Bighames can't wait.

"All the hard work has paid off. It's a great feeling," said Bighames.

Bighames wasn't feeling so great when nobody picked him during the draft's first two days. Instead of continuing to stay at home and play the waiting game, Bighames woke up Thursday and decided to play at the beach.

"I had been frustrated because I fell kind of far," said Bighames. "I just needed to get out of the house."

It was on their drive home when an unfamiliar number appeared on Sides' cell phone.

"She noticed a different area code and she thought this must be it," said Bighames.

Indeed, it was.

St. Louis scout Charlie Gonzalez informed Bighames that St. Louis had just drafted him in the 31st round. Ironically, Gonzalez's son was drafted by the Cardinals in the same round two years ago.

Bighames wasn't surprised that he was picked by the Cardinals. Not only did his 13-year-old brother Steffan predict it would be St. Louis, but the Cardinals were one of the clubs that frequented Estero games in 2009.

"They've always been real interested. They came to a lot of my games," said Bighames, who worked out for St. Louis earlier this year in Jupiter.

Bighames, a San Diego native who spent about seven years of his youth in Chicago, wasn't too disappointed with the late round selection because he said the contract the Cardinals are offering is about what a 10th round player would get.

As for life as a professional, Bighames' former neighbor on the left side of Estero's infield offered this advice:

"Take every day like it's your last day and give it all you've got," said Tolisano. "Remember it's a long season. Don't have too many downs or too many highs. You have to keep a level head throughout the year."

Tolisano, who plays second base for Toronto's High A team in Dunedin, is confident that Bighames will continue to get better and better.

"Tyler has a lot of raw skills," said Tolisano. "Once he harnesses them, once he polishes them, he's going to be a great ball player."